1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a recording and/or reproducing device, into which a cassette can be loaded, this cassette comprising a housing and a drivable record carrier accommodated in the housing, the record carrier being driven by record carrier drive means for driving the record carrier through a side wall of the housing, the recording and/or reproducing device comprising holder means for holding the cassette, the holder means being guided so as to be movable between a loading position, in which the cassette is loaded into the holder means, and an operating position, in which the cassette occupies an operating position, actuating means coupled to the holder means, the actuating means being movable parallel to a direction of movement for causing the holder means to be moved between their loading position and their operating position, and record carrier drive means for driving the record carrier of the inserted cassette, said record carrier drive means being in driving engagement with the record carrier through the bottom wall of the cassette when the holder means together with the inserted cassette occupies the operating position.
2. Description of the Related Art
Such a recording and/or reproducing device is known, for example, from International Patent Application WO 98/44499 A1, corresponding to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/054,109, filed Apr. 2, 1998. In the known recording and/or reproducing device, the actuating means basically comprising a U-shaped actuating slide having two limb walls which extend parallel to two side walls of an inserted cassette, and a web wall which extends parallel to the bottom wall of an inserted cassette, the web wall being formed with an opening for the passage of the record carrier drive means, which is formed by reel drive means for driving a supply reel for a magnetic tape forming the record carrier. By means of said actuating slide, it is possible to achieve a trouble-free and satisfactory actuation of the holder means, but in the known recording and/or reproducing device, the actuating slide must be actuated by hand, which, during loading of a cassette into the known recording and/or reproducing device, is effected by manually inserting a cassette into the holder means, and, during removal of a cassette from the known recording and/or reproducing device, is effected by the manual actuation of an eject button. These manual actuations are not particularly convenient, and also impose an undesired limitation because the necessity of a manual actuation does not allow for remote control.
In order to preclude the afore-mentioned problems, it is common practice to include drive actuating means which serve for the actuation of holder means for a cassette by means of a motor.
It is an object of the invention to preclude the aforementioned problems, in that in a recording and/or reproducing device of the type defined in the opening paragraph, motor drive means drive means is provided which is of such a construction that only a minimal space is required.
According to the invention, the object is achieved in a recording and/or reproducing device of the type defined in the opening paragraph, in that the actuating means includes two actuating slides which extend parallel to the direction of movement, one actuating slide being situated at one side with respect to the record carrier drive means, and the other actuating slide being situated at the other side with respect to the record carrier drive means, and said recording and/or reproducing device further comprises drive means having a motor and a ring-shaped drive wheel drivable with the aid of the motor, the ring-shaped drive wheel being disposed between the two actuating slides of the actuating means, and the ring-shaped drive wheel lying around the record carrier drive means at the level of the ring-shaped drive wheel.
By taking the measures in accordance with the invention, it is achieved that the actuating means and, consequently, the holder means for the cassette can be actuated with the aid of the drive means in a motor-driven fashion, and that the construction is such that the object can be achieved with a particularly small overall height, namely, because the measures in accordance with the invention allow both the record carrier drive means and the drive means for the actuating means to be arranged at substantially the same level. For such recording and/or reproducing devices, this is advantageous and important because such recording and/or reproducing devices often take the form of so-called plug-in units whose overall height is comparatively small.
In the recording and/or reproducing device, the drive means may include a ring-shaped friction wheel which is directly in driving engagement with a friction lining of an actuating slide and which is in driving engagement with a friction lining of the other actuating slide via an intermediate friction wheel for direction reversal. Alternatively, the drive means may include a drive ring which cooperates with the actuating slides of the actuating means via two cable systems. However, it has proven to be particularly advantageous if each of the actuating slides of the actuating means includes a gear rack, the gear racks each being driven by a ring-shaped gear wheel.
The above-mentioned as well as further aspects of the invention will become apparent from the embodiments described hereinafter by way of example and will be elucidated with reference to these examples.